Don't own any of HP and make no money off this fic. It all belongs to J.K.!
AN: Ok, seriously, only a few chapters left. Then again, I've some big questions left to answer, so maybe not. Whew!
The duel began before the last word was even out of Voldemort's mouth, Bellatrix was so eager to begin her dance of death with Lucius. Draco had to quickly throw his wand to his father to buy him some time, but when he tried to leave to find his father's real wand, Snape was there, blocking his path.
"Let me go! Father-"
"Your father needs you here. Stay. I will go."
And then Severus was no longer blocking his path because he'd left to fetch Lucius' wand, himself. Draco turned back to the room and sought out his mother's face. Snape's exit fortunately went unnoticed since most of the other Death Eaters, avid fans of death and destruction though they were, were desperate to get out of the way of Bellatrix's path. There was a crush behind him of grown men and some women, clambering out the doors of the dining room as curse after curse ignited the air.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled and the curse caught Macnair instead of Lucius, who'd used the secrets of his own house to duck into a hidden alcove. Draco took the opportunity of Bellatrix stalking about the near empty room, searching for him, to dash over to his mother where she stood in a corner. He took her hand.
"Mother-"
"Shush!" she breathed, but wrapped her fingers about Draco's hands. He nodded and looked back out at the room.
Bellatrix waved her wand madly over her head and Voldemort sat on his so-called throne, hissing his delight. Draco didn't think he'd ever seen the man laugh before, and he didn't ever want to see it again, to be honest- if laughing was what he was even doing. It was honestly hard to tell, with the Dark Lord.
But now Bellatrix was shouting things, trying to draw a response from Lucius, to smoke him from his foxhole, and Draco could feel the tension spark the air as the ugly truth rolled from her lips.
"Do you know what your precious son has been doing this year you've been toiling away in Azkaban, paying for your disloyalty, for your uselessness? Diddling a mudblood whore!"
Bellatrix paused and tilted her head, as if waiting for a response. When none came, she went on.
"He got the little bint pregnant, all for the sake of his master. How do you like that, Lucius? Hmm? Enjoy hearing how ickle Draco has sullied your precious pureblood line? Has single-handedly destroyed the pureblood line of two great houses, for generations upon gen-"
"Silencio!" Lucius crowed, leaping from his hiding spot and directly across Bella's path. Immediately, no words fell from her lips and her face contorted in a rage that quickly dissolved into eerie, silent laughter.
Lucius prowled around her slowly, watching for any move she might make. She continued to laugh until just as he'd circled behind her, then straightened and directed her wand at him. A curse flew from its tip and Lucius managed to step cleanly out of the way. Three more nonverbal spells and a thin sheen of sweat appeared on his brow as he shielded himself from the onslaught.
Bellatrix was clearly struggling against the charm he'd cast, attempting to break it, and she paused after another series of rapid spell fire to refocus. Staggering back from him, she clung to a wall and took deep breaths. Lucius engaged in his own nonverbal spell casting, taking the opportunity to wear away at her defenses further and the dead quiet of the room, punctuated only as curses burst across it, cast its own spell.
Draco felt as if he were in a dream, seeing his father- whom he hadn't seen for months and who was definitely the worse for wear- battling the only aunt he'd ever known. The insane witch who'd drawn him into the fold herself last year, who'd taught him things he'd in turn used against her all this year…it was surreal. And all for the sake of a child that wasn't even his.
No, that wasn't true. This duel was being fought for everyone who'd been hurt by that one tiny death. For Hermione, for her parents, for his mother. For Ron and Ginny and even bloody Harry Potter. And in the end, it was being fought for the sake of all the good things left in this life, and his own father was the one doing the fighting.
Draco was both incredibly moved and terrified, mainly because he knew that once his father had learned the truth, he suspected he wouldn't have a father much longer. And yet…Lucius was fighting on, despite hearing the truth fall from Bellatrix's lips, despite knowing it must be the truth. He gripped his mother's hand harder and Narcissa dared tear her eyes from the scene before her to give him one fearful, wildly hopeful look before she turned back again.
Lucius had no eyes but for the witch in front of him, throwing curses at him and moving her lips in an ugly pantomime of hatred. He'd dealt her quite the blow with that one, he had, but there was no time to feel smug about it. Lucky for him, too, she'd never have expected so mundane a spell. But it was doing its job nicely: it kept him from being distracted by the filth she was spewing and it frustrated her to the point of distraction. Win-win, that one was. Bellatrix, he pondered, was the sort of witch that liked to taunt her victims. It was part of her dueling strategy. So to take that away from her…he danced out of the way of another wild curse and thanked Merlin he was inches thinner. If he'd been at his old weight some of those near misses he'd already had- well. Wouldn't have been misses.
Ah, she was growing overzealous with her old favorite, the cruciatus. Lucky for him he could practically pluck from her mind where she was aiming, so distracted was she-
Narcissa let out a scream of pain and he blinked, and started to turn…and just then Snape caught his ear from the doorway.
"Focus, you idiot!" he shouted and threw his old cane to him. It veered through the air in a lovely arc and landed right in his palm. He immediately threw himself out of the way of another cruciatus- noting as he did that Snape took one for his pains as well- and pulled his wand from its resting place.
The power of his old friend immediately centered his magic and he felt that deep, fiery sensation building up in his skin, then diving into the pit of his stomach and coursing up and out, down his arm.
The first killing curse that left his lips brought a howl of rage from Voldemort, who was somewhere behind the mad duelists, watching from the safety of his throne and enchantments, but Lucius found that he simply didn't care anymore. He didn't care that his Dark Lord was pissed off at him, he didn't care that he would likely kill him as soon as he'd killed Bellatrix- because he was most definitely going to kill Bellatrix. And he really, really didn't care just then that his son's baby, the one he was fighting for, had been a half-breed.
Azkaban tends to put some things in perspective that way.
"Avada kedavra!"
Oh, that one may have singed a hair on Alecto Carrow's head.
"No more!" Voldemort proclaimed, hissing his discontent.
But he still didn't care. Closer their dueling circle grew, until their hair flew out from both of their heads with the electricity of it all. Bella's silent attempts at assassination and Lucius' loud, proudly shouted ones.
"Avada kedavra!"
Damn, the bitch just wouldn't fucking die, would she-
"Avada kedavra!"
Hell, that one didn't come from him. Lucius ducked just in time and saw Bellatrix do the same. The shot, from Voldemort himself, took out Dolohov and the scream that erupted from their master's mouth was unearthly and terrible to hear. It shook throughout the entire house and brought several Death Eaters to their knees in fright.
Including Bellatrix, who crouched low, transfixed by the sight of her enraged Dark Lord, the man she'd give anything for- had already given everything for. Her eyes were glued to his face and figure in rapture.
So she never saw it coming.
The curse rang in the silence after Voldemort's expression of displeasure and all eyes were suddenly on him, all breath held to see what the consequence of such an outright betrayal would be.
Lucius knew he had seconds to live, and he turned his head slowly to look at his beloved family.
Draco looked up from where he knelt by his mother's side, holding her after her own sister had struck her with the cruciatus, in an attempt to distract his father. Bless Snape that it hadn't worked and the bitch was the one lying dead now. His eyes met his father's and he drew the same conclusion the other had.
They were all going to die, very soon.
One second ticked by, and he felt his mother's hand grasp his arm, felt her tug him down to her, put her lips by his ear.
Another second, and he could feel an odd lump pressing into his side where he held her. A lump in his coat pocket.
He lifted his head suddenly and looked across the way to where Snape lay on the carpet of the dining room, caught his eye, and opened his mind to him.
"Do it," the older man mouthed, just as Voldemort lifted his wand again and left his throne to move towards Lucius, who stood proud and unrepentant, but trembling just the same.
Draco reached into his pocket as his mother spoke again, drew his hand from his pocket just as stealthily, and then everything went black.
Alastor Moody was just laying the first of several traps to catch that lying, yellow-bellied traitor Snape when the Malfoy family appeared in a mass huddle on the front steps of number 12 Grimmauld Place. First mother and son, then father to follow. Startled, Moody immediately hobbled to a window and looked outside. Then he hobbled to the front door and looked out the keyhole.
Then he sent a patronus to Lupin and opened the door.
"Guess you lot'd better come in, then," he muttered.
In they went.
"But you'll submit to a full check by me!" he called after the frightened, but relieved trio. "And don't touch anything! And absolutely no-"
The door closed on the rest of his paranoid commands, and the street outside fell quiet once more.
In the thick black fog of whatever smoke bomb Draco had used to make their escape, Snape could only feel the wrinkly old hands of Kreacher as he drew Lucius from his grip and whispered to him that the Malfoys would be safe. Then, thank the merciful heavens, the elf disappeared again with another pop and Snape knew that he could rest easy, finally.
Being a double agent was so much harder when one had to worry about other people. Not that he worried about other people, or cared. Because he didn't. Not one little- oh, hell. Who was he kidding. Severus held his aching back and straightened up just as the fog began to receded. With its disappearance the noise level began to recede, too and Severus found he could hear as well as see.
Until Voldemort took one glance about the destroyed room, saw the corpse of Bellatrix Lestrange once again, and there went the relative quiet. His eyes lit on Severus and Snape reacted with appropriate astonishment, dismay, and a general approximation of apoplexy.
"Lucius has dared betray me by killing Bellatrix, my most trusted- don't snivel, you know what her loyalty has meant, Severus. And you. Where were you that they escaped in this manner? Lucius should have paid for this and then-" Voldemort stopped short, as if tempted by an idea. "Then, he would have taken his place as my second, as only one who could defeat Bellatrix would."
"It is my opinion, my lord, that you will never see Lucius Malfoy again."
All trace of a smile disappeared from Voldemort's face and he howled with anger.
"Then he will pay as he would have! First, we will work to perfect our plans to capture Harry Potter. I will not waste my precious time on hunting down Lucius and his family like the dogs they are." He turned about and waved to his gathered company, an evil and pleased expression falling upon his face. "But if you ever see any of them, then you may kill them. And make sure they are dead."
"Do you want us to bring you their beating hearts?" Severus asked, entirely bored with this evening's charade and desperate to go have a good, long soak.
Voldemort faced him once more, steepling his fingers and smiling hideously.
"What a pleasant idea."